In the wake of President Obama's re-election, right-wing media outlets and figures compared the president to a dictator, called for a revolution, and baselessly suggested impeachment.

Right-Wing Media React To Election Result: "We Should Have A Revolution"

Breitbart.com: "The War Begins Now." A Breitbart.com post titled "#War More Years" by editor Ben Shapiro belittled the Americans who supported the president and wrote:

The answer here isn't to end the war against liberalism - a philosophy that will bankrupt the country in the long run and steal its constitutional soul in the short run. The answer is to fight back.

[...]

The fight does not end with retaking the Republican Party, though. It extends to the palace guard for liberalism - the media.

[...]

We will not heel. We will not stop. The defeat of Barack Obama would have launched the beginning of America coming together. But apparently, liberal America prefers to battle for the soul of the country.

And so we battle.

Democracy works. We still believe in democracy. We still believe in the power of ideas. But the only way to win in the battle of ideas is to fight the bullies, as Andrew did. Democracy is not blood; that's a miracle. But the civil war for the heart and soul of this country is real.

We've made gains; perhaps we will even win the popular vote. In any case, the election of 2012 was not the election of 2008. But the battle has only just started.

Wall Street Journal: Obama's Successful Campaign Was The "Definition Of Winning Ugly." A Wall Street Journal editorial claimed that Obama caricatured Mitt Romney's position "even by the standards of modern politics." But, the Journal claimed, Obama's strategy "worked with brutal efficiency -- the definition of winning ugly." The Journal also claimed that Obama benefitted from a "long run of extraordinary good luck" and pinned some blame on Republican appointees who helped Obama such as Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke and Chief Justice John Roberts:

[Obama] said little during the campaign about his first term and even less about his plans for a second. Instead his strategy was to portray Mitt Romney as a plutocrat and intolerant threat to each of those voting blocs. No contraception for women. No green cards for immigrants. A return to Jim Crow via voter ID laws. No Pell grants for college.

This was all a caricature even by the standards of modern politics. But it worked with brutal efficiency--the definition of winning ugly. Mr. Obama was able to patch together just enough of these voting groups to prevail even as he lost independents and won only 40% of the overall white vote, according to the exit polls. His campaign's turnout machine was as effective as advertised in getting Democratic partisans to the polls.

Mr. Obama also benefitted from his long run of extraordinary good luck. Hurricane Sandy devastated the Northeast a week before Election Day, letting him rise for a few days above the partisanship that has defined his first term. The storm changed the campaign conversation and blunted Mr. Romney's momentum. The exit polls show that late-deciders went for the incumbent this year when they typically break for the challenger.

The President owes a debt as well to a pair of Republican appointees in government--John Roberts and Ben Bernanke. By joining four liberals on the Supreme Court in upholding ObamaCare in June, Chief Justice Roberts provided a salve of legitimacy to the President's deeply unpopular health-care law. It also helped him unify his party around something to protect in an otherwise aimless second term. [The Wall Street Journal, 11/7/12]

Fox's Todd Starnes: Time To Impeach Obama. Fox News Radio reporter Todd Starnes wrote that Republicans should begin "impeachment proceedings" after Obama's re-election:

Fox Host Brian Kilmeade: "We're The Shallowest Country In The History Of Man." Discussing exit polls that found voters approved of Obama's handling of the response to Hurricane Sandy, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade attacked people who said their votes were swayed by Sandy:

STEVE DOOCY: (co-host): The October surprise turned out to be something named Sandy.

HEATHER NAUERT (Fox News host): Yeah, who would have thunk that, right? Well, 42 percent of those people we spoke with said the response to the storm was an important issue, and 15 percent said it was the most important issue. So this may have become --

GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): I can't believe those numbers.

NAUERT: Yeah. This may have become a national issue in fact.

KILMEADE: Then we're the shallowest country in the history of man. One photo-op, walking over a two-by-four, and all of a sudden, he's handling a storm, which by the way hasn't been handled well. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/7/12, via Media Matters]

Washington Times Columnist Ted Nugent: "Pimps Whores & Welfare Brats" Now Have A President To "Destroy America." Washington Times columnist and NRA board member Ted Nugent tweeted in reaction to the president's re-election that "pimps whores & welfare brats & their soulless supporters" won the election:

WND's Farah: "We Have Allowed Our Fellow Americans To Pronounce Judgment On The Nation." WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah wrote in his column following the election that Obama's re-election shows Americans "have turned away from" God and the founders:

For those of us who fundamentally reject Obama's policies, things are going to get very rough for the next four years. We have allowed our fellow Americans to pronounce judgment on the nation.

That's what Obama represents to me - God's judgment on a people who have turned away from Him and His ways and from everything for which our founders sacrificed their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.

[...]

When you turn away from the ways of God Almighty, this is what you should expect, if you are a student of the Bible and history. [WND, 11/7/12]

NRO's Steyn: "If This Is The Way American Wants To Go Off The Cliff, So Be It" In a blog post for National Review Online titled, "Live Free ... Or Die," conservative columnist and guest host of The Rush Limbaugh Show Mark Steyn wrote about Obama's victory in New Hampshire and concluded: "If this is the way America wants to go off the cliff, so be it." [National Review Online, 11/6/12]

ABOUT OUR RESEARCH

Our research section features in-depth media analysis, original reports illustrating skewed or inadequate coverage of important issues, thorough debunking of conservative falsehoods that find their way into coverage and other special projects from Media Matters' research department.

The New York Times was forced to issue two corrections after relying on Capitol Hill anonymous sourcing for its flawed report on emails from former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The Clinton debacle is the latest example of why the media should be careful when relying on leaks from partisan congressional sources -- this is far from the first time journalists who did have been burned.

Several Fox News figures are attempting to shift partial blame onto Samuel DuBose for his own death at the hands of a Cincinnati police officer during a traffic stop, arguing DuBose should have cooperated with the officer's instructions if he wanted to avoid "danger."

Iowa radio host Steve Deace is frequently interviewed as a political analyst by mainstream media outlets like NPR, MSNBC, and The Hill when they need an insider's perspective on the GOP primary and Iowa political landscape. However, these outlets may not all be aware that Deace gained his insider status in conservative circles by broadcasting full-throated endorsements of extreme right-wing positions on his radio show and writing online columns filled with intolerant views that he never reveals during main stream media appearances.